Mayor de Blasio collects $660G in donations to top Paul Massey during latest fund-raising period

Hizzoner brought in $660,000 in donations during the latest fund-raising period. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News)

Mayor de Blasio brought in $660,000 for his reelection bid in the most recent filing period — finally out-raising Republican Paul Massey, who brought in $555,000 in contributions.

It's a reversal of the last couple of filing periods, when Massey outraised de Blasio, and with expected matching funds the incumbent mayor's haul for this cycle will jump to $1.1 million.

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Hizzoner took in nearly half of his cash, $319,862 of it, from out-of-state, according to filings with the Campaign Finance Board — some of it collected in California and Washington state during a half-government, half-fundraising trip through the West Coast earlier this year.

In the wake of investigations into the mayor accepting large sums from developers and others with business before the city, the de Blasio campaign again touted small-dollar donations — noting 87% of the contributions this cycle were under $175.

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"Our campaign's focus on grassroots, small-dollar donors has powered us to more than 11,000 contributions, and we are now fully funded for a Primary campaign," Elana Leopold, finance director for the campaign, said.

The mayor took only $740 in bundled contributions, made up of smaller checks of $10 and $20 collected by Surgida Lozada, an organizer for the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Union.

He did continue to get cash from MacAndrews & Forbes, the holding company owned by billionaire Ronald Perelman — whose executive Chris Taylor has previously bundled for the mayor. This cycle, de Blasio received 7 checks from the firm's staff, totaling $15,900.

The mayor's donor sheet includes some bold-faced names from the entertainment world donating the max, including theater producer Daryl Roth, the Spielberg Family Living Trust and Ari Emanuel, the talent agent and brother of Chicago Mayor Rham Emanuel. De Blasio also raised $2,500 from David Chase, the creator of "The Sopranos."

Among the smaller-dollar donations de Blasio received were two $10 contributions from Gerrie Blum, proprietor of Adam & Gillian's Sensual Whips — which even offers vegan whips, for those who don't want to spare the rod but do want to spare animals.

The campaign paid Ross Offinger, at the center of one of the investigations into the mayor's finances, $30,031.56 for the period.

The mayor is unlikely to face a strong primary challenge. Democratic candidate Sal Albanese raised just $26,852 during the filing period.

While Massey ended his streak of out-raising de Blasio, he did keep one thing consistent from prior filings — he again spent vastly more money than he raised. He raised $555,786 and spent almost double that, $1.02 million — using it to pay a cadre of campaign employees and political consultants, and to pay for things like "thank you" flowers.

The candidate gave himself $750,000 in loans this cycle, and also repaid a $710,000 loan. He ended the cycle with $917,000 on hand, his campaign said.

Before the numbers were released, Massey told reporters he had run an efficient business thanks to hiring the best management team — and said he treated his campaign the same way.

"I'm very, very happy with the way our fund-raising is going," he said. "I know things are going to continue to go well, so I'm very, very happy with our team."

Massey's haul was split exactly 50-50 between local and out-of-state cash, according to the filing, and 53 of the contributions were for the maximum donation — including from MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred and Citarella grocery store owner Joseph Gurrera.

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Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, meanwhile, has raised more than $94,624 for her mayoral bid since she kicked off her campaign in late April, according to her complete filing with the Campaign Finance Board.

Most of the cash Malliotakis has raised came in smaller donations, many of them from fellow Staten Islanders, with just 21 donations of $1,000 or more and four donations clocking in at the maximum $4,950 — one of them from herself.

She also received the max amount from Margo Catsimatidis, the wife of John Catsimatidis — the well-heeled former mayoral candidate and owner of Gristedes, who himself donated $400. Malliotakis had said she would not run if he'd gotten into the race.

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) has raised more than $94,624 since jumping into the race as a Republican candidate in late April. (Mike Groll/AP)

She also received cash from smaller-scale grocery magnate — Kevin Mannix, the owner of several Staten Island grocery stores, donated $4,950. The Neighborhood Preservation Political Action Fund also maxed out to Malliotakis.

The candidate also netted $4,900, close to the maximum, from the Sergeants Benevolent Association. The police union is headed by Sgt. Ed Mullins, an outspoken critic of Mayor de Blasio.

Rocky De La Fuente, a recent transplant to the city also seeking the Republican nod, has received the bulk of his campaign cash from himself. He made six donations to himself for the maximum of $4,950, and also reported a $250,000 loan from himself to the campaign.

Candidates can donate unlimited sums to themselves if they are not participating in the matching funds program; those who do take public funds can self-donate three times the maximum.

The Republican primary field lost a contender after Michel Faulkner, an ex-Jet and pastor, dropped out to run for controller.

Faulkner's campaign shelled out $188.85 in campaign cash to the online dating site eHarmony — a charge his campaign blames on debit card theft.

His campaign says it's not funding a search for love online, but was instead a victim of fraud.

"It was a fraudulent charge on Michel Faulkner's debit card. As soon as the charge was noticed, the campaign contacted TD Bank, they reversed the charge and the campaign cancelled the card," said spokesman Ken Frydman.

Campaign Finance Board rules require all expenses charged to a campaign to be reported, even if they're fraudulent and subsequently reversed, he said.